Written on 2009-10-28 05:31:50
It's interesting that I posted my previous post "The Death of a Sperman" just a few hours before Michael Jackson's death. There are certainly some parallels. My "hero" also experienced a sex scandal, and fell from grace. I put him a on a pedestal, and found out that he was all too human.
The adulation of pop stars has often been compared to the worship of religious figures. I remember a song from the 60s called "Hey, St. Paul", by a New Zealand singer. It was written after rumours of Paul McCartney's death. Well, anybody who knows anything about the Beatles, knows that Paul was far from being a saint.
It's all too easy to give out power away to others. Michael Jackson was the ultimate pop idol in his day. But he was no God. He was very human indeed, a rather confused and vulnerable figure who never managed to psychologically integrate his childhood issues. The reason I posted a childhood image of MJ here is to remind us that behind the often bizzare behaviour of the adult lies a wounded child. Within all us of is a scared and vulnerable child, and unless we come to terms with that part of ourselves, we can never mature fully as human beings. Michael jackson is simply an extreme case.
The flip side to the adulation of pop figures is the judgment and hatred projected at them. Michael Jackson experienced plenty of this as well, as we all know. Both adulation and hatred are projections of an egowhich fails to assume responsibility for its soul issues. All judgment is an attempt at destruction, albeit unconsciously. We will be seeing plenty of projections in the media and blogosphere over the next week or two, I predict. The hate wars are about to begin.
For those people wanting to rise above the lowest common denominator of mass consciousness, these occasions are a good time to develop a greater degree of awareness. Can you stand back and detach from the ego judgments you have about Michael Jackson? About those who worship and loath him? Can you develop an awareness of where these judgments come from? The first step in developing a better relationship with the ego is to become aware of it, and the second step is to assume responsibility for it.
BTW, Michael's Off the Wall album was the first album I ever bought, as a 13 year old, way back in 1979. I admit to feeling a little sad today.